The Servant in the Horror Game is Suspicious Chapter 30

Jade had been busy since dawn. He was getting everything ready for spring.

He aired out the closed-off rooms to let the spring breeze in and dusted off the old grime. He found blankets that were lighter than the winter ones to wash, and while he was at it, he discovered some new clothes. The clothes he found were sized for adults, so they would need altering if Ian was to wear them.

Deciding to push the tailoring to the next day, he moved on to tidying the garden first. As he cleared away the thin remains of snow and pulled up dead sprouts, he prayed that the Northern spring wouldn’t be as harsh as he feared.

He had originally planned to leave in the spring, but the plan had been pushed back. Ian was friendly toward him now, and with Buster and Bluey in tow, the burden of traveling was too great. Instead, Jade intended to settle in even more properly.

Maybe it’s okay to stay for one more season.

As soon as the weather broke, he would head down to the village to get some seedlings. No matter how cold the North was, it was a place where people lived, so surely they’d sell seedlings that could survive.

As he waited for the snowy paths to melt, he began making a list of items he wanted to buy; before he knew it, he had filled a whole page of his notebook.

“The ground is a bit hard here.”

Some parts of the garden had melted completely, but the shaded spots were still covered in a thin layer of frozen snow. Jade gently scraped the snow away with a hand hoe and then began to pack the dirt down with the flat head of the tool. He was pressing down with just a normal amount of pressure when—snap—the hoe broke.

“Huh?”

The head of the hoe snapped clean off and popped into the air. Flying in a perfect arc, the blade landed a few meters away and buried itself in a snowbank with a soft thud.

“Why would that break?”

He couldn’t believe the sturdy tool had snapped while merely packing dirt, not even while digging. In a situation where every single tool was vital, what on earth was this?

“…Seriously?”

Jade sighed as he stared blankly at the handle left in his hand. He looked over at where the blade had landed; the black piece of iron poked out from the white snow as if mocking him.

Jade was a man who lived with constant minor misfortunes. A problem like this didn’t even count as bad luck in his book. Tossing the handle aside, Jade stood up. He had a mountain of other work to do.

“Oof!”

Walking hurriedly, Jade tripped and fell flat on his face, banging his knee. His foot had gotten caught on the sack he’d left out to take with him when foraging for food.

Not a tree root, but a mere sack had tripped him. He was really having no luck today. To make matters worse, the ground was muddy from the melting snow, and his knees and palms were now covered in filth.

“What is wrong with today, seriously.”

“Myaaaang—!”

Buster, who was watching nearby, clutched his belly and laughed at him. Jade roughly wiped off the mud and walked past Buster toward the bathroom to wash up. But his minor streak of bad luck didn’t end there. The lamp in the bathroom shattered.

“I’m exhausted, just exhausted.”

After trying to tend the garden, changing his clothes, and replacing the lamp and refilling the oil, Jade wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. He went back out to the garden, but without the hoe, he couldn’t finish the ground.

“…”

His luck was exceptionally poor today. Small misfortunes were a daily occurrence, but for some reason, this felt ominous.

Jade pushed aside the instinctive sense of crisis and kept moving. He told himself his intuition was just being dramatic.

But he should have realized it the moment things started going wrong. He should have known today was no ordinary day.

They say the final boss always appears late. The biggest obstacle was waiting in the wings.

“Hmm?”

He was regretfully snapping off dry twigs when he heard it. The faint, distant sound of thundering hooves. Jade’s hand stopped mid-snap.

That’s…

It was the sound of a carriage. In an instant, his heart sank.

Already?

Jade counted the days in his head.

The day Jade arrived at this villa—the day he possessed this body—was about three months ago, arriving on a carriage carrying supplies.

That day, for some reason, Jade had been lying alone in the snow. Most likely, the driver had other ideas or they had run into bandits.

It had been nearly three months since that day. That meant a carriage with new supplies should have come several times by now.

The Linwood family sent daily necessities once a month and an attendant every three months. He had been secretly worried because the family carriage hadn’t shown up.

The rattling sound of wheels grew closer. The sound of hooves racing over the unthawed road echoed with particular weight. Jade waited for the approaching carriage with a tensed heart.

Soon, a black carriage emerged through the Northern mist. The first thing that caught his eye was the crest engraved on the side.

The same design was carved into the entrance of this villa: two snakes coiling upward, with two swords thrust between them. It was a carriage sent from the Linwood family.

“Ah, h-hello.”

“Hmph.”

Once the carriage stopped, someone stepped down slowly from the driver’s seat. He was a man who looked to be at least two meters tall.

He swept a glance over the withered garden and the dilapidated exterior of the villa before finally locking eyes with Jade. He didn’t look like a simple driver. He was quite intimidating and looked to be at least the rank of a knight.

“Hey, servant. I brought the supplies.”

“Oh, right. Yes, sir.”

“Help unload.”

With those words, the man jerked his chin toward the back of the carriage. He didn’t mean “help”; he meant for Jade to unload everything himself.

Jade nodded obediently and approached the carriage. Despite being called “three months’ worth of supplies,” there were very few items. Just a few small sacks.

While Jade unloaded the supplies, the man pulled out a thick cigar and put it in his mouth.

“Is the young master well?”

At that question, Jade’s throat went bone-dry. The man certainly hadn’t asked out of genuine concern for Ian’s health.

How should he answer? That he was doing well? But wasn’t Jade the servant sent specifically to kill Ian?

“No. He is constantly ailing; there isn’t a day he is healthy.”

After some thought, Jade gave the answer the man likely wanted to hear. He figured that would be safer for Ian. If the man knew Jade was foraging for food and building a life here, he certainly wouldn’t leave them be.

“Is that so?”

Sure enough, the man let out a snort as soon as Jade finished speaking.

“To think he survived this harsh winter… he’s more tenacious than he looks.”

“…”

Jade finished unloading the supplies without a word. There were four sacks in total. Only two of them contained food, and the sacks were incredibly small. It didn’t even look like enough for one month, let alone three.

Furthermore, there were three mouths to feed now, counting Buster. A hollow laugh escaped him at the absurdly insufficient amount.

“The food seems a bit scarce. Even if the young master doesn’t need to be considered, shouldn’t there be enough for me to eat?”

Jade played the part of a servant who cared only for his own well-being. He had to avoid showing even a hint of concern for Ian.

“Well, the family’s situation isn’t great. Manage it yourself.”

The man kicked one of the sacks with a tone that suggested he didn’t care if they lived or died. A potato came rolling out of the sack. Jade scrambled to pick up the rolling potatoes and clutched them to his chest.

Manage it himself. In this remote place, with this little food.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

The man took a step closer to Jade, who was hunched over picking up potatoes, and lowered his voice. A cold sweat broke out down Jade’s back at the threatening tone.

“How is the task I entrusted to you going? There’s been no word. I didn’t think I’d have to send another carriage.”

From his words, Jade finally understood why no carriage had come until now. They had assumed Ian was already dead.

“Well…”

“Are Lord Malderic’s orders still pending?”

When Jade trailed off, the man pressed him immediately. Jade straightened his back with effort and replied calmly.

“I need more time.”

“Time?”

The man arched an eyebrow. He irritably flicked his cigar away, and the lit ember whizzed past Jade and flew behind his back.

“Three months have already passed. You haven’t forgotten the reason you were sent here, have you?”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

“Then why on earth haven’t you finished off that one little brat? What are you doing!”

The man grabbed Jade by the collar and growled in a low voice.

“B-but, you want it to be handled as a natural death, don’t you? You’ll need an intact body to hold a funeral.”

Jade desperately dredged up information from the setting notes he’d read. On paper, Ian was the legitimate heir, and that fact was a thorn in the side of Ian’s uncle.

The uncle, Malderic Linwood, cared immensely about public perception. It made sense, as he needed the Imperial family’s recognition to become the Duke. Therefore, he wanted Ian to die “naturally.”

If Ian’s body disappeared or showed signs of murder, all suspicion would naturally point to Malderic. Similarly, there couldn’t be signs of starvation or poison. That was why they had delivered a small amount of necessities every month.

“It’s difficult for me too. The young master hides so well I haven’t even seen his shadow.”

“That’s for you to figure out; you’ve been paid! The money you took wasn’t exactly a small amount, was it?”

“M-money?”

Jade stammered. He had been curious about this. He’d even thought about probing the person when someone from the family finally arrived. Exactly how much had this crazy servant taken as a down payment? If he didn’t kill Ian, that entire amount would become Jade’s debt.

“You took enough money to buy several houses; don’t tell me you’re planning to play dumb.”

“That…!”

His head spun. Enough money to buy several houses. Since he had taken such a fortune, his own life wouldn’t be worth a cent if he failed the mission.

“You’d better hurry. Don’t go getting any other ideas. I can dispose of a greenhorn like you with my eyes closed.”

“I… I’m keeping that in mind.”

“Glad to hear it. I trust you know that Lord Malderic is a man of little patience.”

Having heard the answer he wanted, the man released Jade’s collar. Even though the man’s hand was gone, Jade felt like his throat was still being constricted.

“By the way.”

The man, who was walking back toward the carriage, turned around significantly. Making eye contact with Jade, he gave a sinister grin.

“This is the cold and dangerous North, isn’t it? It wouldn’t be… strange if a child lost his life in an accident. For instance, falling from a cliff.”

It was blatant pressure. Jade clenched his fists. His fingernails dug into his palms.

“I hear monsters appear around here, too?”

“Safe travels, sir.”

“This is the last of the supplies.”

Leaving those words behind, the man drove the carriage away and vanished.

The fact that they wouldn’t send any more supplies meant he had to kill Ian within the month.

The sound of the departing carriage grew more distant. Clutching the sacks, Jade stood there blankly, braving the cold wind. The sacks in his hands felt incredibly heavy.